Let's just call this year "Suntory time."

For the first time, whiskey produced outside of Scotland has won awards for best in the world by Whisky Magazine.

In the single malt competition, Yoichi 20 years old, which is distilled near the city of Sapporo on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, beating out a number of other ostly Scottish brands. Judges chose Yoichi 20 for its "amazing mix of big smoke and sweet blackcurrant," "explosive aroma" and "big, long and sweet finish." The best blended whiskey award went to Suntory Hibiki, the same brand that was used in the movie Lost in Translation (hence, "Suntory time").

Today was one of the first nice Spring days here in St. Louis and I went for a guided hike at Fort Belle Fontaine. The site was important for many reasons which you can read about on the St. Louis County Parks website, but the part that caught my attention was our guide's story about Lewis and Clark and whiskey.

Our guide told us that when Lewis and Clark's men were at the site, they were served whiskey in tin cups (one cup each). After they drank it, they had to stick out their tongues to allow for verfication that they had swallowed all the whiskey. Apparently, some of the men would try to save the whiskey so that they could have a double portion another day and actually get drunk.

I could not find any verification of this story on the Internet. However, I did find a story on PBS that described one of the Lewis and Clark men, Pvt. Hall, who had more than his share of the communal whiskey and received 100 lashes for it!

What do you do to deter your troops from drinking more than their fair share of your alcohol stash?

I had never really thought of Irish Cream as something you could make at home (I thought it was something that only came in a bottle and was bought at the liquor store) until I came across this post on The Real Potato. Posted a couple of days ago, she offers a seemingly easy recipe for making your own Irish Cream (none of that pre-bottled stuff!). It does use raw eggs, so if that makes you feel uncomfortable, you can either get some pasteurized eggs or leave them out and add some extra cream. It would be a great thing to make tonight if you're going to have a mellow night at home with friends or family (or both)!

I don't know if I have a special drink I have around the holidays, though I guess if I had to think of one it would be egg nog. Not that I drink a lot of it around the holidays, it's just that it's the only holiday-related drink that I can think of having. If I'm going to have a drink, I usually stick to what I have other months of the year, even if it is Christmas.

Fandango has a quiz where they'll figure out which drink is best for you during the holidays. They ask you questions such as your favorite color, what type of movies you like, your idea of a fun time, etc. Then they tell you what you should be drinking. It works with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

I don't know how accurate it is since I got "Whiskey," which I can't stomach.

AOL Food has a slideshow at their site, with ideas on how to add bacon to, well... pretty much everything. No, not your typical breafast dishes. That's too obvious. We're talking about putting bacon on hot apple pie, in oatmeal, in an ice cream sundae, and in chocolate chip cookies. Someone is even trying to get the smoky flavor of bacon inside a glass of whiskey.

A lot of these ideas are too out there for me, but I think I'd try bacon in popcorn.

Sortilège Maple Syrup and Whiskey Liqueur is 30% abv. / 60 proof and is made in Montreal, Canada from Canadian whiskey and maple syrup. The color is that of a very light maple syrup.

The aroma is a light but sharp whiskey, with overtones of maple, some dried fruit and spice cake notes, and very light hints of vanilla. It's a unusual aroma that isn't as much maple as I would have thought. As I warmed it up the dried fruit notes opened up and masked all the other scents, which was an improvement since I didn't really care for the aroma that much at first.

The taste is very light and medium sweet with a light, but syrupy body. There isn't much going on with the flavor. It has hints of whiskey under the very mild maple flavor. In the background there is some of that dried fruit and spice cake that I noticed in the aroma. This is a nice, mild liqueur that is different from most, but it doesn't wow me. It's nice to have when you want something different but I wouldn't have it on a regular basis. I would like it a lot more if it just had more of the whiskey and maple action going on.

So, is it a coincidence that National Scotch Day falls on a Friday?

Answer: Yes, but the coincidence works out well. Now you can knock down a few after you leave work for the weekend, just like they do in 1950s movies where men worked in suits.

The first drink that comes to mind when I hear the word Scotch (besides Scotch on the Rocks, of course), is Scotch and Soda. Here's a recipe (it's scotch and, um, soda). Here's a recipe for a Blood and Sand, from the 1922 Rudolph Valentino movie. Actually, here's a whole page of Scotch recipes. Please be aware that some of the drink names on that page are NSFSEAE -- not safe for senstive ears and eyes. You've been warned.

Don't forget the history of Scotch Whiskey.

Lately I have been very interested in the small craft distillery scene in the US. Not to long ago I got an email from a friend discussing how the Mid-Atlantic States are getting on the map for its craft distilling scene. Then I read this article about three small distilleries in Virginia and their new, premium, small batch, handcrafted spirits. These distillers are bringing back the distilling tradition to Virginia that hasn't been seen since before prohibition, and doubling the number of distilleries in the state.

There have been three distillers of liquors that could be considered long time native Virginian: Laird & Co. distilling since 1780 makes Bonded Apple Brandy and Apple Jack from apples grown in the Shenandoah Valley (A branch of the same company whose headquarters are in NJ); A. Smith Bowman distilling since the 1930's known for Virginia Gentleman bourbon; and Belmont Farm Distillery, distilling since 1987 which makes a version of corn liquor/moonshine called Virginia Lightning.

What would a collection of SuperBowl dip recipes be without a little blue cheese, considering that it is held to be the gold standard of hot wing dips - excluding hot wing sauce itself, of course. Blue cheese (or bleu cheese, if you prefer) dip is made with a pungent, creamy cheese that cuts into the spiciness of hot wings by adding a new layer of flavor and a cooling sensation that dulls the heat of the chicken. The strongly flavored cheese, in most of these dips, is often combined with sour cream, mayonnaise or cream cheese, each of which contributes to the overall texture of the dip without bumping up the flavor to the point where it overpowers the hot wing itself.

This particular dip is a pretty standard recipe that you'll probably find in several different places. It calls for sour cream and mayonnaise in addition to the cheese, so "healthy" is not something that could be applied. You can always substitute low fat or nonfat sour cream/mayonnaise; using a good quality blue cheese will make up for any loss of flavor in either of those ingredients.

I'm not sure how cold it is where you are, but here tonight it's supposed to be around 9 degrees (and with the wind, etc, etc it's even colder). So we need something to keep us warm. You could try tea, you could try soup, maybe sitting in front of a fireplace. You could even try cutting open the carcass of a large dead animal and crawling inside, like in one of the Star Wars movies.

Or, you could make a hot alcoholic drink. If you're alone, you can make a Hot Toddy. If you're having a party with thirty of more people, you could make a Hot Cider Punch. Either way, you'll warm up quick. To paraphrase the Campbell's commercial: "Warm up to alcohol, booze is good food."

If a cocktail sounds really strange, you might want to take a chance, trust the bartender and give it a try before dismissing it out of hand. You might be surprised.

Whiskey is growing in popularity, so you might want to know what kinds of nibbles go well with it.

Long-aged tequilas are in higher demand, too - and they're not meant for making margaritas.

A specialty tonic water can really improve the quality of a drink, adding a subtly sweet flavor to take the edge off.

Tailgaters like to bring out the blenders and serve mixed drinks before the big game.

Drinking during pregnancy - not to mention a number of other food-related pleasures - is definitely frowned upon by others in the US, although not necessarily by doctors or people elsewhere in the world. It seems that there are risks associated with heavy drinking, but to be on the safe side in all situations, there is no standard for "heavy drinking" and is just considered to be a big no-no.

Big beers, usually produced by small brewers, are beers that have an alcohol content of more than 7% - far stronger than the average of 3-5% that is a common standard in most places. Fans feel that a lot more goes into making them than other beers and revere them almost as much as a fine wine.

Frank Bruni dines at Spicy & Tasty and gives it two stars.

Mark Bittman, the minimalist, makes party food: Polpetti, Grilled Chicken Wings, Gougères and Asian Corn Fritters.

With the six weeks of the holiday season rapidly approaching I thought I would take a look at some of our holiday traditions and ways we celebrate. For all of us it's a time when friends and family get together to give thanks. We think about life and religion, and exchange gifts to show we care. We also have parties to celebrate the old and the new, and to blow off some steam so we don't get too crazy. For many of us, libations are a part of how we celebrate. Eggnog and punch are some of the traditional holiday favorites that we serve, most especially eggnog for Christmas.

My parents came from opposite ends of Europe and moved to the US right after getting married. They were used to celebrating in vastly different ways, but ended up forming their own holiday traditions; some of which have changed over the years to meet our families needs. For us serving eggnog, and the tradition of my father sitting in the kitchen preparing it the day before, signified that we were coming together as family and friends. A time when we celebrate all the reasons why we know and love each other; and to try and forget all our disagreements, stress, and strife. While thinking about all this I thought I would do a little research on these two related holiday beverages: eggnog and punch.

Say it fast... Fizzy Gin, fizzy gin, fizzy gin! Why? Because it's fun to say, and soon it may be fun to drink. Diageo has come up with a way to make gin, vodka, whiskey, rum, or any other spirit carbonated naturally, using yeast and a "fermentable carbohydrate." In the patent registered with the European Patent Office they say they have a "method for preparing alcoholic beverages having natural effervescence, wherein a blend comprising a distilled spirit is fermented with a microorganism". It sounds like the way real champagne and some beers are carbonated, but I always thought that yeast died off at around 17-18% alcohol by volume (abv.) Vodka, gin, and most spirits are usually bottle at 40%-50% abv. I read the patent, which left me completely confused and with a headache, and it seems they can carbonate spirits up to 30% abv., though preferably in the 8%-12% abv. range. Anyway it seems they have figured out a way for the yeast to live at high alcohol levels. Boy those must be some robust and happy yeasts.

If you thought that a mixologist was just a fancy term for a bartender, you'd only be partially correct. Most mixologists start off as bartenders, but the terms are not entirely interchangeable according to mixologist Leo DeGroff. The latter is more like a chef, creating new drinks, not just pouring them.

People have been coming up with new drink recipes for hundreds of years, but it is only in recent times that cocktail creation has really grown into an art, using fruits, vegetables and other flavors with the same precision that they are used in cooking. Mixologists often rely on seasonal ingredients, too. The drinks they create are frequently commissioned to be appropriate for particular events, menus and themes. As an example of the way mixologists work, take a look at the three "old west" theme drinks that were recently created for the launch of a new AOL game, Gold Rush. All the drinks use whisky, a classic American spirit, as their foundation, but come out with entirely different flavors.

Over at NYC-based blog Eater, they've started a new series inviting local restaurant and bar owners to write a column. This week, William Tigertt from Freemans walks readers through the math that determines the markup on an order of Johnnie Walker Blue, a premium whiskey. According to his calculations, a place like the SoHo Grand is marking up that drink by 441%!! Tigertt creates the JWBI, the Johnnie Walker Blue Index, and determines that the average markup is 275% around the downtown hotels.

Wow. You're better off laying down a good 200 dollars for the whole bottle yourself.